Standardize to speed

It has been a successful partnership between SD Automotive and Tebis since the two German owned companies connected back in 1984. Early on, SD Automotive made its name in the industry mainly through model and prototype work. Continuous improvement paved the way for the company to open their newest facility in Hartwell, Georgia in August of 2011 to better serve their customers in the US market.

The US branch, SD Automotive Group, has a focus on stamping dies and prototypes, with almost all of the production geared toward heat shields for some of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers. Not long after the decision to open a US facility was made, did the decision to stick with Tebis follow. The German parent company was entrenched in the software for over a decade and was long sold on its capabilities and user-friendliness. According to Aaron Martin, Lead Programmer at SD Automotive Group, another factor also played a role, “Germany has been using Tebis for quite some time and with the opening of the Hartwell location, management really wanted the two to be able to work together and communicate as efficiently as possible.”

SD Automotive Group shop floor. Hartwell, GA

The added efficiency gains from working in the same software system may sound enticing in theory, but how often is this actually realized in a shop environment? In this scenario, Germany handles almost all of the design work for SD Automotive Group in either Tebis or Catia. These designs are then imported into Tebis seamlessly at the US location, without losing any necessary data or compromising on quality of the design.

SD Automotive Group 5-Axis machining centers

Taking things a step further, the two branches have worked together to best utilize Tebis’ automated programming capabilities. SD Automotive Group has implemented standardized machining templates that simplify and speed the programming phase. These templates have a pre-existing set of milling strategies embedded that can identify surfaces based on color, layer or name. Upon importing a CAD model into Tebis the standardized template will populate itself with proven milling strategies based on the part preparation (colors, layers, names) done during the design phase. For programmers such as Aaron, this is a big deal “Sometimes I’ll have seventy jobs at one time just for 3D, with Tebis I don’t have to go through and manually select every component I want to machine. As long as the CAD model is colored properly from our tool designers, the programming time is significantly reduced.”

The company is supported by the Southeast branch of Tebis America, located in Greenville, South Carolina. “The support team makes a trip to our facility once a month or at least calls to check up, a lot of times they will sit down with me directly to see if they can help with any of our daily processes” said Aaron. If the goal was to grow through successful business relationships, Tebis and SD Automotive Group are on the right track. The opening of SD Automotive’s US facility and Tebis America Southeast are proof of that.

Quote

"with Tebis I don’t have to go through and manually select every component I want to machine. As long as the CAD model is colored properly from our tool designers the programming time is significantly reduced.”

Features

Focus:

Utilizing Tebis' automated programming capabilities.

Benefits:

Significantly reduce programming time

Standardize processes to increase efficiency

Sector:

Automotive, Die manufacturing

Company:

SD Automotive Group

Location:

Hartwell, GA, United States

Interviewee:

Aaron Martin

Position:

Lead Programmer

Published:

2017

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